Prime Minister Joseph Muscat promised this evening that the government in the coming months would launch a rehabilitation project in Marsaxlokk to compensate the residents for the hardship they had suffered from the power station.

"We will fix up the place and return some of the dignity taken away from you. We will embellish the promenade, find a permanent solution which will strike a balance between the monti and the restaurants and improve the traffic management to attract work and activity to the area," Dr Muscat said.

His comments, during campaigning for the local council elections, came days after Marsaxlokk's Labour mayor Edric Micallef did not attend the switching-off ceremony of the Marsa power station because he was upset that the government has yet to compensate Marsaxlokk for hosting all power plants in its backyard.

Mr Micallef, who will not contest the April 11 councils election, however, denied speculation he had broken ranks with the party. In fact, his intention is to run for the next general election on the Labour ticket.

“As Marsaxlokk mayor I would have felt out of place celebrating the fact that all power stations would now be in our village,” Mr Micallef had told Times of Malta.

In his comments this evening Dr Muscat pointed out that operations using polluting heavy fuel oil would be stopped and the power stations would use gas, thus ensuring that air quality in Marsaxlokk and the area would improve. The old power station chimney would also be demolished.